Disney Reportedly Held Talks to Buy 21st Century Fox Assets

Could the X-Men, Avatar, and more come to Disney?

By
Jonathon Dornbush

Executives at 21st Century Fox, the parent company behind Fox's film, TV, and broadcast divisions, have reportedly discussed selling most of the company to Disney.

CNBC reports these talks, which have occurred over the last few weeks, noting that there is no certainty of such a deal occurring. According to CNBC, Disney and Fox are not currently discussing such a merger. Both companies declined to comment on CNBC's report. The Wall Street Journal confirmed that Disney held discussions to buy Fox, however those specific talks are no longer active.

Not all of Fox reportedly would be sold to Disney, as some aspects of the company would be left behind to give it a tighter focus. Here's a look at what would, and wouldn't become part of the Disney umbrella.

What Fox Would Sell to Disney

Fox's film studio, 20th Century Fox, and presumably all of its properties and subsidiaries like Fox Searchlight, would be owned by Disney. That would assumedly mean Fox-owned Marvel properties like X-Men and Fantastic Four would return to Disney and Marvel. Additionally, Disney would acquire the rights to James Cameron's Avatar franchise for which there is already a precedent, as an Avatar land already exists at Disney World.

Disney would reportedly own Fox's TV studio, 20th Century Fox TV, and its productions like Family Guy, 24, and more.

Additional Fox networks like FX and National Geographic would reportedly become owned by Disney.

What Would Remain at Fox

Fox would retain the Fox broadcasting network, as FCC rules prohibit a merger between any of the major broadcast networks (Fox, CBS, NBC, and ABC)

Fox would also hold onto its sports programming — according to CNBC's report, merging with ESPN could be seen as anti-competitive.

Disney would reportedly not buy Fox News or its Business channels

Disney would also reportedly not purchase any of Fox's local broadcasting affiliates

As CNBC notes, this deal is in no ways taking place just yet, and the outlet could not learn about the exact structure nor price such a deal would include. Such a deal would see a significant merger among film and television production, however.